October 3, 2026
HOUSTON, Texas — A settlement has been reached in a sexual abuse lawsuit against 93-year-old Paul Pressler, a retired Texas judge who was a key figure in the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative resurgence that began in the late 1970s.
In the lawsuit, Pressler’s former assistant Gareld Duane Rollins Jr., had accused Pressler of molesting him. Pressler has denied the accusation.
The Southern Baptist Convention and the SBC Executive Committee had also been named as defendants in Rollins’ lawsuit.
“The Southern Baptist Convention and its Executive Committee were each fully prepared to proceed to trial,” their special counsel said in a statement that went out to news media on Friday. “However, several factors ultimately made settlement the more prudent choice. Chief among those factors was the horrendous nature of the abuse allegations, the likelihood that counsel for the SBC and Executive Committee would have to confront and cross-examine abuse survivors, the Executive Committee’s current financial condition, and the willingness of multiple insurance carriers to contribute to the terms of the settlement.”
Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
A variety of media reported the settlement, including the Houston Chronicle, The Tennessean in Nashville, The Baptist Paper in Alabama, and Religion News Service.
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